Dedicated to the preservation of Long Island's 'gold coast' estates and other things old.

Friday, February 5, 2010

'Goodwin Place'

'Goodwin Place', the estate of Philip Lippincott Goodwin designed by himself c. 1917 in Woodbury. Goodwin was a partner in the architectural firm of Goodwin, Bullard & Woolsey and at one time vice chairman of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Goodwin, along with Edward Durell Stone, designed the MoMA building in 1939 in the International Style. The house was purchased in 1969 by the Highland Academy but was demolished in 1975 to make way for development. Click HERE to see where 'Goodwin Place' would have stood on google earth.

Click below to see 'Goodwin Place' intact and still standing in an 1953 aerial shot. Pictures from Architectural Record, 1920.

13 comments:

Anonymous
said...

wow - what a beautiful place. houses designed by architects for themselves are always so much more interesting than the ones they do for money (fallingwater notwithstanding). that minimalist fountain built into the side of the house is to die for. well, it almost made it. any interiors?PACK RATS - TURNER, MAINE

Hello Zach, I'm always eager to learn whether the houses you're writing about are still standing, and hoping for good news. Some aren't memorable, but this one is a great loss. What a lovely, charming house. Heartbreaking!

Indeed, a particularly lovely house, and always wonderful to see how architects who were later excellent, early, practitioners of modernism were also earlier particularly adept at historical styles---George Howe is another good example. Shame it was torn down. Very liveable floor plan..

I live in a suburb of Chicago that is notorious for its teardown activity. There are so many really badly rendered faux chateaux here. It was great to see photos of one that was so beautifully executed. Ironically, Goodwin Place was a teardown...

Down East =Those are some great links to the Judah house. In the black & white picture, the three arched windows on the ground floor lead to the indoor pool. Above are two suite of guest rooms with the balcony.

The color picture shows the entrance side. This coor leads from a huge court yard and then there is another courtyard inside which is slightly visible here. There used to be several large trees in the interior courtyard.

I'm hopelessly late with this but wt_) - I witnessed a fire at Goodwin Place from a distance on Woodbury Road one afternoon in 1975. Smoldering at a slow rate, the local engine company taking no time, deploying every tool in their arsenal, the fire was snuffed out in minutes, as was Goodwin Place although its fate had long since been sealed. Only cold, wet charcoal fragments in small heaps lay on floors in rooms left roofless, but they, the fire brigade, seemed quite satisfied with the wreck they left. I understand much better now just why firefighters need to do certain things. At the time I may have been age 9, and believed, erroneously, they should be preservation minded too, ah well.

I watched Goodwin Place decline from near perfect preservation to a vandalized wreck, and it was heartbreaking.It was seldom occupied in the late 1960s-the current owner was "abroad"; possibly in Italy.It was a delightful playground for a respectful youngster.The grounds were still well maintained, from the the cube-shaped trees and the greenhouse, to the mosaic pool with matching his and hers marble dressing rooms, the tree-lined avenues leading to the columned, round reflecting pool,the Belgian block forecourt- all combined to form a surreal, nearly deserted wonderland by day, but it was even better on a nighttime foray.The silent interiors spoke of wealth and of the past, with ornate fixtures, electric annunciators for summoning members of the staff, and the cramped stairs leading from the nickel and marble kitchen to the tiny rooms in the servants' wing. Goodwin Place is gone now, one more victim of time and of "progress".